Chapter Text
All things considered, Grace was doing great!
He’d been busy the past few days, really really busy.
As it turned out, getting moved into a biodome entailed a lot more than just showing up and walking through the door.
Apparently, there was a litany of tests that had to be done to ensure said biodome could support human life.
There was also a lot of effort put in to assure it was to Grace’s taste.
It was still gruelling work, though. Even if most of the tests went smoothly, Grace only nearly dying once- that had been due to an incorrectly calibrated temperature system, which was only a few degrees off from boiling- that upon identifying- via Grace only barely cracking the airlock door- was promptly fixed. Leaving Grace to be shoved back into the Hail Mary until it was assured that there would be no similar mishaps.
The anxiety surrounding what was upcoming gnawed at him. The sort of immediate threat of starvation, the possibility of dying due to a small error even after surviving this long, and the stress of being somewhere so deeply unfamiliar left Grace unable to rest or relax. How could he sleep when just beyond the airlock was an undocumented planet, a massive population of alien life, and a whole biodome built just for him to explore.
He’d been told the biodome team- yes there was a whole Eridian biodome team he couldn’t wait to meet and speak to- was working as fast as they could. And it was no lie, the team for this project had only been put together a 10 days prior, when they had finally been able to contact the Eridians and begin to bring down the ship once it was in the right position, entirely no thanks to Grace and his amateur piloting.
Rocky had been ecstatic to tell him all about the biodome team. The entire project was being headed by Adrian, and Rocky had never seemed so excited or proud, nor had he ever talked Grace’s ear off to this extent.
“Biodome ready soon,” Rocky had promised, “Then Grace will be allowed to leave Hail Mary. Rocky leave now to help, will make biodome construction faster. Rocky help Adrian, Rocky get to see Adrian… unless… if Grace wish Rocky to stay… then Rocky stay.”
Grace caught the way Rocky’s hand came up to graze over the teal mark on one of his arms. The excuse was fairly silly, Rocky- despite being a “human expert” as he liked to proclaim- would be little to no help at all in building the biodome, no matter how talented an engineer the alien was.
But there was no way on Earth- or, well, no way on Erid- that Grace was going to make his friend wait to see his mate even one second longer, after all those decades apart.
“We’ll be just fine, bud. Go out there and enjoy the welcome home party, and tell Adrian I say hi!” He told Rocky, simultaneously disconnecting the translator so he wouldn’t be eavesdropping.
Rocky danced excitedly in his ball, in a string of musical notes chanting “Thank, thank, thank. Grace is best! Rocky return soon!”
Before rolling off to commence the slow process of depressurizing the airlock and leaving his ball as fast as he possibly could.
Once clear, airlock cycle complete, Grace ran to press his face against the airlock’s porthole style window, the glass warmed from cycling Eridian air.
Erid was dark, almost entirely lightless, proving the hypothesis he’d thought up after first learning of Rocky’s way of navigating the world, no need for light when you base your ‘sight’ on sound.
Yes, Erid was dark, but so was space. Smartly, the Hail Mary had been fitted with exterior lights affixed to the hull in critical areas, such as near the airlock. Originally these lights had only intended to make space walks easier for the astronauts, but in this instance they also served as an excellent spotlight, allowing Grace to spy on his best friend like some unsettling neighbour peering over the fence.
He didn’t mean to snoop on such an intimate moment, lovers reuniting after some 49 years apart. He had thought that it would be a group of Eridians receiving Rocky- their hero- and welcoming him home before whisking him off for celebration, but outside the ship was only one.
The Eridian was bigger than Rocky, in fact they looked to be nearly as tall as Grace- nearly, which was a shock. With his only reference point being Rocky, Grace had sort of expected all Eridians to be rather small. And though it was difficult to see with only the light on the ship illuminating the scene, their carapace seemed to be a serene sort of teal colour.
They also looked very… Dorito shaped… or maybe-more likely- Grace was just hungry.
On Earth, Grace had spent more nights alone on his sofa than he could count, it often got too quiet for him, to the point that his ears would start ringing just to make up for the lack of auditory stimulation. So he would fill these nights with noise, something light and distracting. He watched a lot of musicals, on nights like that, he also binged more rom-coms than a group of teenage girls at a slumber party. He’d often catch himself getting too invested in them, belly laughing when it was funny, eyes welling up when it was sad, and watching with baited breath right before the big confession.
He felt that same anticipation now.
Though he couldn’t hear even a single note of the discussion from his side of the airlock, he could see the jittery excitement in Rocky’s body language. The air between the two Eridians was so tense it could be cut with a knife, and Grace held his breath, but it lasted only a few moments before Rocky went barreling at mach five at Adrian. Rocky crashed into his mate violently, Adrian catching him with two of their arms, clutching him close like a hug as they tumbled backwards, rolling like rocks down a hill. Heh… hilarious, still got it.
If Rocky had a face, Grace was sure he would be smiling, and probably bawling his eyes out too. It was a warm kind of happiness befitting a sappy movie.
In fact, it was better than a rom-com. It was real. The two seemed so genuinely happy to be reunited, all the longing and mourning at the prospect of never seeing each other again, all culminating in the most infectiously emotional reunion.
Rocky was home.
He got to see his mate again.
Got to have a family again.
He got to save the stars
Got to be a hero.
Rocky got to come home.
Grace rubbed the heel of his hand below his eyes, and dried the dampness off on his own shirt.
He had things to do before the biodome was finished, he shouldn’t stand around all day.
He didn’t get to meet Adrian officially until three days later, when finally, he was allowed into his brand new biodome under strict supervision to avoid any issues, such as boiling alive, or asphyxiating due to ammonia inhalation.
As it turned out, Adrian was very nearly his height. And maybe he was feeling a little intimidated by that, but it’s hard to fault him for that when he’s so entirely out of his depth in a new environment surrounded by unfamiliar aliens- as opposed to the his alien best friend, of course, who he knew very well, because that’s an entirely normal set of circumstances for a human to be in.
Rocky was ecstatic to introduce them.
“Grace, this Adrian: Rocky beautiful, amazing, perfect, best, wonderful mate! Adrian, this Rocky human friend Grace. Grace saviour of stars, save Erid, save Earth, save Rocky. Is best friend,” Rocky rambled out introductions in a quick splutter of notes.
“Ah, hello, Adrian. It’s nice to finally meet you” He greeted, with all the human pleasantries and awkwardness that came with meeting someone you’d heard so much about.
Rocky then translated his words, because of course Adrian didn’t understand English.
Maybe they’ll learn, Grace thought, the idea made him smile.
Adrian sort of… just stared for a while, completely still, facing Grace. It was unnerving. Eventually they responded in a string of notes. Their tone was slightly more melodical than Rocky’s, “Fascinating alien creature, very different from Eridians. Hello, Grace friend.”
From there, the conversation unfurled in a stilted, roughly translated sort of way. Adrian seemed to be the ‘straight to business’ type. They reminded him of some of the people that worked on Project Hail Mary.
They discussed the biodome, mostly. Talked about workshopping details, and wanting Grace’s input on every current and future feature, hoping to make it as comfortable as possible. Despite Adrian’s dedication to professionalism, they did make a point to thank Grace before the conversation was over.
“Many thank, Grace friend, for bringing back taumoeba. Most appreciation for saving Rocky. All Erid thought Rocky died for many year… Thank Grace for bringing Adrian mate back safe.”
It was maybe the sweetest thing Grace had ever heard. But he couldn’t dwell much on it, he had the rest of the biodome team to meet, and of course, a whole new place to explore.
The first thing he noticed about the biodome wasn’t how large it must be, it wasn't the barren, dystopian terrain, it wasn’t the temperature, or the air. The first thing Grace noticed given the time to register his surroundings, was the gravity. Erid’s gravity was about two times that of earth, he had felt it in the tunnel when he’d met Rocky between their ships, and he’d felt it while they were waiting in the grounded Hail Mary for the biodome to be deemed safe enough to enter, both times he had felt the way it pulled down on him, the way his arms felt heavy, and his joints grew tired. In the biodome, it was maybe one and a half times that of Earth’s, if he had to guess.
“How…” He muttered to no one.
The terrain really was dystopian, though. His kids had once taught him what ‘uncanny valley’ was, they had wasted a whole class looking at vaguely disturbing images of things that were just slightly off. He felt that whole phenomenon described what he was feeling now surprisingly well.
Under his feet was a teal, gravelly, dirt adjacent substance, in theory it probably wasn’t that different from Earth’s dirt- if Eridians were, at their core— literally, ha, I’m so gosh darn funny, —carbon based lifeforms, just like Earth life, then how different could the other aspects of their planet really be?- but it lacked any life sprouting from it. On Earth, Grace had biked past weeds sprouting through the cracks in sidewalks, and overgrown grass in suburban yards and never noticed it, but now, he sure noticed its absence.
The ground crunched loudly under his shoes as he started walking. The biodome team told him his living space was somewhere in the centre of the dome. As he went, distantly to his left he could see a structure of some sort, it was out of the way and pressed to the side of the dome, so probably not what he was looking for, but something he’d have to check out after a good nap. After maybe 20 minutes of walking he spied another structure in the distance, on a cliff, but thankfully a good distance from the edge.
It was an interesting little thing, an unconventional shape. It had no door, just an open entryway. Inside it was bare, lifeless, and not at all compliant with feng shui. There was a bed, just sort of off to the side, and a self-sustaining water recycling system- both stripped directly from the Hail Mary it seemed, a table, a sink- or maybe it was meant to replicate one of the ship's sponge wash basins. He’d have to ask for a proper shower.
He’d have to ask the biodome team for a lot of things, he was realising.
But for the time being, the only thing he was concerned with was flopping down on the thin mattress and finally get some rest. His glasses were slipping down his nose, but he had no side table to set them on.
Sitting down on the mattress and feeling the scratchy, thin blanket between his fingers, he took a deep breath and tried to decompress. His shoulders were tense, Anxiety knit at his shoulder blades and churned his stomach. He grabbed at his own arms, hugging himself, desperate for comfort. He’d left his quilt in the Hail Mary, it was too warm to sleep with it but it was a comfort he hadn’t slept without in a very long time.
His eyes were blurry, and every time he forced them to focus, they would blur and glaze over again. His limbs felt heavy, and his mind was slow.
He was exhausted but he couldn’t bring himself to lay down. Instead, he stares ahead at bleak empty walls.
It was odd, everything being so quiet and vacant.
It’ll be better when I move my things over, then it will feel like home. He assured himself.
He had asked the Biodome team about Simon. They had built him his own space, they said. Put him somewhere not at Grace’s side, not in his immediate vicinity. Simon was somewhere that gave them both the personal space they had been lacking, and it felt so wrong. It had become so normal to always have someone around, between Rocky’s clinginess and Simon’s tendency to act as Grace’s shadow following him around in eerie silence, loitering in the ship’s doorways or standing behind him eerily. He had gotten so used to having Simon and Rocky in his space and now he’s alone again.
He’s alone again
Oh god, he’s alone again.
Oh no he-
Of course, it was at that exact moment Rocky decided to roll through the open doorway- he really had to ask for a door next time he saw Adrian.
“Rocky finally introduce Simon to Adrian-” Rocky spouted immediately, rolling through Grace's empty house, coming to a rest in front of Grace.
“That’s good,” Grace said, trying to keep the exhaustion out of his voice, and pushing up his glasses to rub at his eyes beneath them.
“No!”
Oh? Had Simon not gotten along with Adrian? Had Rocky not set up the translator? Had Rocky introduced them before Simon was comfortable? Grace worried.
Did Simon not like his Biodome? Should Grace have told the biodome team not to give Simon his own space? But he wanted Simon to be comfortable, and the biodome team would have made sure he was, with his own little house, and his own little beach, and his very own ocean to stare out at-
OH GOLDFISH! Is Simon scared of the ocean? Grace hadn’t thought to bring it up to the biodome team, how would that conversation even have gone? ‘Hey, I know your basing your whole human enclosures off of my preferences, but this other guy here- you see, I pulled him out of an ocean of blood, so maybe don’t make his biodome half water- just a thought, you know’ oh, gosh how could he have forgotten about that.
“Did something bad happen?” He asked Rocky frantically.
“Yes!” Rocky insisted, and Grace nearly leapt off the bed to go help- but then Rocky continued and the sense of urgency quickly subsided- “Adrian think Simon sooo interesting. Adrian say, ‘Why Rocky not tell Adrian about Simon, Question? Only tell about Grace.’ Adrian even cancel ♩♬♪ with Rocky to talk with Simon! Bad bad bad,” He prattled angrily.
Grace sighed heavily in relief. And here I thought something bad happened, Rocky’s just being jealous.
“They cancelled what with you?” He asked, settling back once again on the bed.
“...Need word, mates spend time as only two.”
“Ah, a date, you were going to go on a date, that’s cute.”
“Not cute, because Adrian cancel date with Rocky to talk with Simon, Adrian say ‘ Rocky Adrian go later, promise’ and now Rocky here.” Rocky bemoaned.
Grace laughed tiredly, “It sounds like they just rescheduled, bud, not cancelled. I think you’re being a little dramatic.”
“Rocky not Dramatic! Grace be mad too if Simon skip one of Grace Simon courting ritual to instead research random Eridian that Grace not know or like!”
“Woah, what?” Grace spluttered impetuously, “courting ritual? What do you mean courting ritual?”
“Yes. Courting ritual. Grace not know word? Need translator, question? Is when two individual do task, give gift and perform action to impress possible mate-”
“No- I know what courting is Rock.”
“Then what is misunderstanding, question?”
“What makes you think Simon and I are courting each other!" The question came out somewhat strangled, he could feel how warm his cheeks were, and only imagine how red. Thankfully Rocky couldn’t see colour… his heartbeat on the other hand Rocky definitely could hear but was thus far kind enough not to mention.
Rocky kind of just… sat there in front of him incredulously for a beat before speaking, “Grace Simon perform courtship ritual often on Hail Mary,” He stated, like it was the most obvious thing.
“No we- like what? Rocky, you have to remember that humans and Eridians have cultural differences.”
“Grace Simon listen to music together.”
That was true, Grace had started trying to introduce Simon to some of his favourite music, it had been going well… though Simon may disagree.
“Grace Simon get food and water for each other when other is busy.”
Well that was just kindness, keeping an eye out for each other. Grace would do that for anyone. Like getting coffee for the other teachers on Mondays.
“Grace gift Simon clothes.”
The man had literally nothing else to wear! They pulled him aboard the ship wearing only a harness and some blood soaked, half shredded apocalypse clothes! So sue him for lending the man a shirt and rummaging through Yáo’s stuff for some pants that would fit him!
“Grace take care of Simon’s things, like seed necklace when Simon was unconscious.”
Well he wasn’t going to toss his stuff out into space!
“Simon take care of Grace things too, remove glasses when Grace asleep, to ensure they do not break.”
Well of cours- oh- did Simon do that? He’d never noticed, he thought maybe through all his trauma he had grown enough as a person to finally get better about putting his glasses to the side before bed-
“And Simon perform ship cleaning often without shirt and Grace spend much time observi-”
“Alright Bud! That’s enough examples!” He interrupted hastily. “Eridian culture and human culture are different, none of those are courting rituals or anything like that! It’s just friendly human things we do for each other! That’s it!”
Despite the fact that what he said was- almost, sort of, mostly- entirely true! He was still blushing something furious.
“So Grace Simon not courting?”
“No! Of course not!”
“Behaviour is just typical human friend behaviour?”
“Exactly.” Grace affirmed,with a sigh of relief.
“... So Grace not consider Rocky as friend, question?” Rocky sang in a disjointed, hurt sounding tune.
No matter the situation there was a non zero chance that Rocky was messing with him at any given moment. And a high chance that one of those moments was now, but on the off chance Rocky genuinely thought that they weren’t friends, Grace wasn’t willing to chance it.
“What?! That’s not at all what I- Rocky you know you’re my best friend!”
With a chirp, Rocky declared proudly, “Is joke! Rocky know Rocky is best.”
With a mock annoyed sigh, Grace pinched his nose and affectionately chided, “You’re the worst, go annoy Adrian or something. Let me get some rest.”
“Can’t annoy Adrian- Adrian never annoyed with Rocky- ALSO ADRIAN DITCH ROCKY FOR SIMON!” He screeched.
And this time, Grace sighed for real. He loved Rocky, he did, if soulmates existed then no doubt Rocky was his. But he could be the worst at reading the room sometimes, let a guy sleep for crying out loud.
Rocky paused his rant, just to state the obvious, “Grace in a mood.” It wasn’t a question so much as it was an observation. “Is Grace not happy with new biodome?”
“No, no, it’s not that-” He placated, “Well, I haven't had time to look around yet, and really I’ll just need some time to get used to the new space… Is the house layout final?”
“No, is only a placeholder.”
“Oh thank gosh- It’s so empty, and everything is in a weird spot- and I’m so grateful for all the effort that got put into it- but it’s weirdly cramped, and I’d really like a proper door, and maybe some windows-”
“Rocky go tell Adrian now, Adrian fix. All Erid make sure biodome is perfect for hero Grace.”
“Thank you Rock, that means a lot to me… And Rocky, it’s normal to take things slow when seeing someone again after a long time apart, I’m sure you and Adrian will fall back into place eventually, it might just take some time.”
“Many thank, Grace.” And with that, he rolled out of the open doorway leaving Grace to finally get some rest.
He laid back on the cot staring at the ceiling before remembering something Rocky had said. Plucking his glasses from his face he stared up at his slightly blurry frames- he hadn’t broken a pair yet, but he had come close, and if it weren’t for Simon he would have probably snapped a pair in his sleep already…
“Thanks Si..” He whispered to the ceiling, setting his glasses aside and pulling the thin sheet up over himself, more than ready to finally get some rest.